EL CAJON  The El Cajon City Council on Tuesday afternoon agreed unanimously to look into partnering with the Grossmont Union High School District to help bring back the shuttered East County Performing Arts Center.

Nearly two weeks ago, Councilman Gary Kendrick went before the school district's governing board to bring attention to the idea of working in tandem to make ECPAC, a venue for local theater productions and some big-name musical acts in the 1980s and '90s, a viable entertainment spot once again.

Mayor Pro Tern Bill Wells and Kendrick recommended that the council assign two members to meet with representatives of the school district to discuss a potential partnership for ECPAC's renovation and re-use, and the possibility of constructing an adjacent events center building.

Wells said the collaboration could save the district money if plans to build performing arts centers or multi-use centers on every campus in the district were scaled back and a central location at ECPAC were used by at least some of the schools.

"We are looking at reopening ECPAC, in a timely manner," Wells said, "and in a way most cost effective, while being sensitive to taxpayers' dollars... (The school district) is planning to spend many millions of dollars building 10 performing arts centers, why not let them use ours? We can have a public/public partnership that could save taxpayers millions of dollars. If we can save money, I see no reason we shouldn't try."

ECPAC first opened in 1977, and was initially operated by the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District. It was transferred in 1995 to the city of El Cajon for $1, but closed in 2010 because of maintenance issues. The city planned to reopen it in 2011, but safety issues such as a reported hole in the roof and lack of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act stalled that plan.

Grossmont Trustee Dick Hoy said at the meeting earlier this month that the school district should not have to pay for the restoration of the building.

"I urge you to be more involved caretakers for this near-perfect acoustical treasure," said Art Ballantyne, a fourth generation El Cajon native and one-time El Cajon Historical Society preservationist.

Kendrick believes the project could also give the district benefits such as a large venue for graduations and district meetings. He said regardless of whether Grossmont comes on board, the city would open up the venue.

Ray Lutz, founder of the Save ECPAC Foundation and head of a local citizens' oversight committee, sees trouble on the horizon if the school district gets involved and tells the City Council to "stop monkeying around and open this place up. Do it."

"We explored this to some extent about a year ago, and it did not seem to make much sense, either for the city or for the school district," Lutz told the council. "This is a waste of your time."

Lutz said he believed a partnership wouldn't do much in terms of bringing new faces to El Cajon. He said that in order for the theater to be viable, it would have to be shared among a number of high schools, and they have a need pretty much all at the same time of the year.

"This is a fixture in the community," Lutz said. "This is like a park with a big fence around it."